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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25196737">A Single Game of Chess</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicholas_Lucien/pseuds/Nicholas_Lucien'>Nicholas_Lucien</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Forever Knight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Caddy - Freeform, Chess, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Reconciliation, Vampires, car, game</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:26:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,813</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25196737</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicholas_Lucien/pseuds/Nicholas_Lucien</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick agrees to play a single game of chess with LaCroix.  What happened next was a surprise to both of them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Nicholas Knight/Lucien LaCroix</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Though not intended to be a sequel to the story 'The Mad Queens Game,' there are some elements that come from this prior story.  The reference to LaCroix's car comes from the story 'The Penalty.'</p><p>I do not own these characters and is not intended to infringe upon any copyright owners. No profit is being made from this work.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>LaCroix surveyed the chessboard, then extended his hand over to move his dark wooden Pegasus piece.  Leaning back into the leather couch, he patiently waited while Nicholas slowly thought about his own move.  After the pale wooden pawn was advanced, LaCroix considered taking the piece but declined the obvious bait.  Instead, he decided to move Juno into a more open position.  He reached over to the side table and took a sip from his wine glass; the vile animal blood Nicholas stocked washed over his taste buds, but he swallowed the vinegar anyway without complaint.</p>
<p>Nick noted the queen’s new location and took a few moments to think about his next move.  Confident she could not stop his attack in time, he moved the rook into position.  He studied LaCroix as he took a quick sip from his own glass.  He had initially been hesitant when his sire had shown up, board in hand, wanting to play a game.  Lately, they had been more amicable, and Nick had found himself often thinking about their better times together.  He had been remembering a particularity passionate summer in Rome when LaCroix had come.  He had finally decided to indulge the request and agreed to a single game in the hope that focusing on the chess pieces would help him ignore the memories.</p>
<p>LaCroix had been observing Nicholas, not the board, so needed to take a moment to see what his son had done.  He decided to move his Pegasus again.</p>
<p>Nick, almost successfully suppressing his smile, moved his rearing knight piece.  “Check and mate.”  He watched his sire lean over the board to confirm the call.</p>
<p>“Are you sure?”</p>
<p>“Absolutely.”</p>
<p>LaCroix pushed back into the couch.  “When ….”</p>
<p>Nick thought through their actions, knowing LaCroix was doing the same; with their memory, there was never a need to write the moves down on paper.  “Seven moves back.  Your rook to h4; had you moved your bishop, I would not have been able to set up my play.”</p>
<p>“You are correct,” LaCroix confirmed.  “And you were not going to mention that potentially very bad move?”</p>
<p>“I’m not going to point that out to an opponent,” Nick explained with a lopsided grin.  “You should have kept your attention on the board.”</p>
<p>LaCroix nodded.  “A good game,” he said, with a quick lift to one side of his lip.</p>
<p>“Yes,” Nick sighed.  “And that one game is over.”</p>
<p>LaCroix felt through their mental link Nicholas beginning to pull away.  He also understood what his son was referring to – their agreement – one game and then he had to go.  LaCroix tipped his head slightly.  “It would appear, Nicholas, that I am unable to leave.”</p>
<p>“And why is that?”</p>
<p>“Sun is up.”</p>
<p>Nick looked around the dark loft, slightly confused.  The only light came from the lamp on the small table near them.  Then he turned around in the leather chair to look through the tall windows and saw they were shuttered, blocking out any sunlight.  He turned back to his sire.  “When were they closed?”</p>
<p>LaCroix had opened a wooden box and was carefully moving the chess pieces into the storage container.  “Seven moves back.”  He felt the irritation vibrating through their link and continued to place the pieces back into their box while Nicholas flew up to the bedroom.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>LaCroix strolled around the loft, paying close attention to the pieces Nicholas had recently painted.  Each was an expression of his son’s changing mind, and the newer works were lighter and not as dreary as his older works were.  Eventually, he turned from them and headed to the freight elevator.  Descending down, he went in search of the artist.  Arriving at the lowest level, he exited into the area where Nicholas parked his vehicle.  The cloth top was down, the hood was up, and his son was reaching deep into the engine bay.  LaCroix ventured over, picking up the opened shop manual as he passed.  “Are you sure you should be doing this yourself?” he questioned, glancing at the diagrams and flipping through a few pages.</p><p>“It’s not difficult.”</p><p>LaCroix raised an eyebrow when he heard the clank of a tool dropping onto the concrete floor.  He watched as Nicholas crawled under the car to retrieve it, then got back up and once again go under the hood.  He examined the manual again.  “It says two mortals are needed for this repair.  And that the front dash needs to be removed.”</p><p>“It's just some light bulbs and wires, not too difficult, and it can be done from the back.”  Nick suppressed his frustration when the screwdriver fell again.  He decided to try and just use his hands.  He reached down deeper into the mounting pieces of the dash.</p><p>“Why not have a professional do this?”</p><p>“I’ve fixed cars,” Nick grunted as he reached down slightly more.</p><p>“The last one was the Cadillac I bought in 1915.  Hardly comparable to this.  Why are you doing this?”</p><p>“Because,” Nick said with some irritation, “the shop couldn’t get this done and back to me before I needed the car for work.”  He pulled his arm up and chose a different angle to re-enter his machine.  He squeezed his arm into the tight area.</p><p>“Well,” LaCroix pointed out, “there is a way around that.”  Nicholas turned to look at him.  “Quit the mortal job.”</p><p>Nick scowled at his maker.  “I’m not quitting.”  He pushed his arm down.</p><p>LaCroix smelled the blood at the same moment Nicholas let out a painful hiss.  He dropped the manual and went over to his son, who had managed to extract his arm.  The cut was not long, and the damage was quickly repairing itself, but the exposed blood was still a beacon.</p><p>“I’m fine,” Nick hastily uttered while quickly searching for a towel to clean up the blood.  He felt their link vibrate, pulsating in a way he had not experienced in a long time.  He wiped the blood off, the wound itself already completely healed.  “Why didn’t you tell me the sun was rising?” Nick snapped in an attempt to ignore what he was beginning to feel.</p><p>LaCroix accepted this change in topic and felt the shift in Nicholas’ mood.  “You were enjoying the game, and I did not want you to be burned by the sunlight.  The logical solution was to close the shutters.”  He backed into his previous position as Nicholas returned to the car.  “Besides, you agreed to one complete game, not a timed game to be played only until dawn.”</p><p>“Still,” Nick distractedly said, while once again pushing his arm into the same engine area.</p><p>“I was following and adhering to your conditions.”  LaCroix once again felt the rise of irritation in Nicholas, covering the other emotions playing through their link.</p><p>“My condi-” Nick abruptly stopped as, in his movement to partially twist to face his sire, he came into contact with the same sharp piece of metal as before.  Quickly jerking his arm away from danger, he instead managed to gouge and cut his arm deeper and longer than before.  Nick registered LaCroix standing before him at the same moment as feeling his maker grasp his wrist.  Gently, his arm was turned and lifted upward.  Nick didn’t move while he watched his wound being brought to his sire’s mouth, nor when the seeping blood was licked off.</p><p>Once cleaned, LaCroix could see how deep the cut had gone.  Looking directly at Nicholas, he brought his free wrist to his mouth, then sliced the area open with an extended fang.  He pressed his cut onto his son’s wound, allowing his healing blood to flow over and quickly knit the tissue back together.</p><p>Taking only ragged breaths, Nick clenched his eyes shut while his arm healed.  But the blood exchange had another effect, and the mental link to his maker opened wider.  It did not take long to find what he had not felt in a very long time – the part of LaCroix that was only shared when they were intimate.  Nick was drawn to it and he felt his fangs slide down.  When his wrist was finally released he let the healed arm drop to the side, saddened that the connection with the blood was now gone and their link had constricted back.  With that loss fresh in his mind, he opened his eyes.</p><p>“Nicholas?” LaCroix began, seeing the golden irises of his favorite and having felt through their link all the emotions and sensations Nicholas had been suppressing that night.  A hand placed on his chest stopped the question he had been about to ask.  LaCroix let Nicholas start first before duplicating the action of unbuttoning the first few buttons of the shirt.  No sooner had his own neck been freed when it was immediately covered in rough kisses.  He felt the sides of Nicholas’ elongated fangs press into his skin while also being pushed into the side of the car.  Knowing how favored the car was and how no scratch upon its jade surface would ever be forgiven, LaCroix moved them onto the back seat of the car before sinking his fangs through yielding flesh and drawing out ambrosia.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>With a moan, Nick woke up.  He found himself in the back seat of the Caddy, staring up at the ceiling.  Memories flooded back and he quickly felt along his neck, sitting up when he found the multiple fang wounds.  Since they healed quickly from such injuries, it was not that long ago when these were made.  Nick scanned around the garage area, looking for LaCroix, but didn’t find him.  He partially closed his eyes, sensing along their link.  Opening his eyes, he got out of the car and headed towards to elevator to get up to the loft.  Sliding the metal door opened, he found his sire sitting at the kitchen table.</p><p>“You left me.”</p><p>“A change in what normally occurs.  I did not mean that,” LaCroix replied to the pain now reverberating through their link.  Then Nicholas pulled away and their connection dulled considerably.</p><p>Nick pulled out the chair opposite of his maker and sat down.  “No, it’s true.  But it’s because you drive me away.”</p><p>LaCroix almost responded, almost falling into their old pattern of fighting.  However, he decided not to, knowing the end of such fights never brought Nicholas back to him.</p><p>Nick looked over to the piano and at the chessboard and the box that contained the packed away chess pieces placed on the cover.  “I do miss you sometimes,” he confessed, his openness a side-effect of their recent sharing.  Still LaCroix was silent.  “Where do we go from here?”</p><p>“What do you want?”</p><p>Nick considered.  “I don’t know,” he admitted.</p><p>“We could discuss this over a drink,” LaCroix offered.</p><p>Nick nodded as he got up from the table.  He walked over to the bookcase next to the refrigerator.  Turning around, he looked over at his sire.  LaCroix was staring at the table surface, waiting for him.  He was used to his maker always watching him, always shadowing him, always at his shoulder, always pressing for an answer or to teach a lesson, yet this time he wasn’t doing any of that.  Space is what Nick had needed to think, and space his sire was giving him.  LaCroix had also not complained about drinking the bovine blood, or admonished him for choosing such a substitute for human blood; it had been a relief to not fight on that topic.  Nick looked up and saw the chessboard again.  Trick aside, the game had been an engaging one; he didn’t realize how much he had missed playing with a capable, challenging opponent.  And, of course, what had happened in the garage reminded him of another aspect of life with LaCroix he deeply missed.</p><p>LaCroix looked up as Nicholas appeared next to him.  He was concerned and saddened; Nicholas brought back no glass or bottle, so he was sure his son had decided against being with him.  Beginning to stand and resigning himself to spending the rest of the day in one of the lower levels of the building until it was safe to leave, he was surprised when Nicholas placed a hand on his shoulder to have him sit back down.  That surprise was replaced by another, when Nicholas used his fang to slice his skin and extended the wrist to him.  With a final glance at his offspring, LaCroix took hold of the arm and simultaneously licked up the blood and sank his fangs into the blood vessel to draw more out.</p><p>Nick saw LaCroix stiffen and pull his fangs out.  His sire looked up at him with glowing golden eyes and he felt an insistent push on the partial block on their shared link.  Nick yielded, letting his lover in.</p><p>Lucien partially closed his eyes, basking in the same passionate intensity vibrating through their mental link as he had found in Nicholas’ blood.  When he saw his beloved begin to sway, he got up, embraced him, and moved them both over to the couch.  Laying Nicholas upon the leather cushions, he also mentally pulled back so as to not overwhelm him.</p><p>His mind clearing, Nick looked up into his lover’s eyes.  He reached up and brought Lucien’s head closer, catching his lips in a passionate kiss.  Nick felt the remaining buttons on his shirt being opened, and the cloth pulled away.  The kiss ended, but before he could complain, Lucien resumed the kisses down his neck and chest.  Fingers caressingly followed the path of the lips, except when their roaming reached his nipples.  There, his lover teased one with lips, while the other was pinched until erect.  Nick tried to rise up, but hands on his chest pushed him and, with a low rumbling moan, back down onto the cushions he went.</p><p>Smiling at his beloved’s impatience, Lucien kept one palm on Nicholas’ chest and let his other hand slide downward.  Later he would open the belt and remove the pants, but for now these obstacles were ignored in favor of the aroused organ he felt under the layers of cloth.  He kept Nicholas from sitting up as he stroked down that area and then back up.  When the hips bucked, Lucien told his beloved to stop or he would stop his touching.  Frustration at keeping still reverberated through their link along with the enjoyment felt by the aroused sensitive tissue.  He reached over to kiss Nicholas while deciding how far he could push his beloved to stay still.  Control was never something Nicholas was very good at.  Continuing his kiss, he began to unbuckle the belt and open the pants.  Pulling his lips away, he stared at Nicholas as he slipped his hand under and his fingers rubbed along the sensitive skin.</p><p>Nick threw his head back and clenched his eyes when Lucien touched him, taking what little willpower he had left to make sure he didn’t move his hips.  Nick moaned the entire four or five times Lucien’s fingers and palm stroked him and teased the tip.  With a roar he opened his eyes and lunged at his lover.  Rolling over, they crashed to the floor and Nick sank his fangs deep into Lucien’s neck.  A similar piercing occurred on his own neck and the cycle of sharing was complete.  Ignoring the world around him, he delved into Lucien’s mind and found that passionate area that was for him alone and stayed there.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nick woke to the insistent ringing of his phone.  His answering machine picked up, took the message, and ended the call.  A moment later, the phone rang again.  He ignored the message being left and opened his eyes.  He was in his bedroom, naked and tucked in under the sheets.  He felt along the link to his maker and found LaCroix was no where close to him.  Nick felt a spike of sadness that his sire was gone.</p>
<p>The phone rang again and this time it was a woman’s voice leaving a message.  He was slow to realize the voice belonged to Nat, who was asking if he was okay since he wasn’t at work yet.  Glancing at the clock, he flung the sheets back and jumped out of bed.  He had overslept.</p>
<p>Rushing around he had decided he would have to fly to work, which he reminded himself was probably better since he didn’t get his Caddy fixed during the day.  He paused, remembering the time he had spent with LaCroix that day.  As he resumed leaving, he walked past the piano and noticed the chess set was still there.  He also saw a note.  Talking it, Nick read the message written in LaCroix’s handwriting.  He smiled, putting the note back on the board.  LaCroix said to bring the set over whenever he next wanted to play a game of chess.</p>
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